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Day 5 was one of my favorite days on Maui. We started the morning with a hearty breakfast at Charley’s in Paia on the north shores of Maui with Art of Tea’s favorite vendor, Mike Abrams, who rightfully claims that Charley’s has “The Best Macadamia Nut Pancakes in the World” (although he brings his own pure maple syrup to enjoy them with). After breakfast, we headed onto what is known as one of the best scenic drives America has to offer- Hana Highway. This highway runs along the coast of Maui for 68 miles of two-lane windy road, 59 bridges, and 620 curves. We thought the views from the Honoapilani Highway were beautiful, the Hana Highway was simply heavenly.

We made many stops along the way, partly to absorb the beauty surrounding us, but mostly to prevent the crew of the SS Merino from getting car sick (no one did).

Sometimes we had to leave the car to see the beauty around us:

But most of the time, it was right there on the road, in every direction you looked:

We did manage to do a bit of sight seeing along the way, starting with “The Garden of Eden”, a private arboretum with beautiful trees and plants, a duck pond, and breathtaking views:

The Arboretum also offered a “Bird Show”, which for $20, was well worth it:

After the Garden of Eden, we decided to let the kids take some photos by standing up through the large sunroof while we drove the highway. At the slow pace we were moving, they were sure to get some great shots:


We stopped at the Lava Tube where we were able to walk through a natural “ventilation pipe” where lava once flowed, creating a surreal geological formation. We also stopped at Waianapanapa Beach, also known as Maui’s only Black Sand Beach:


We made it to Hana, where we turned around and headed right back where we came from. The drive on the Hana Highway ended spectacularly and fittingly with one of the most beautiful sunsets we’ve ever experienced:

Day 4 on Maui was another relaxing day with not much planned. A little souvenier shopping and pool lounging was the order of the day, although Christy and I took a walk along the entire length of the Kaanapali shore, 2.5 miles each way. Although it was beautiful, the sloped shore made the walk very painful, especially on the way back.

One of the highlights of our vacation was the Luau. We originally planned to attend the Kaanapali Beach Luau, known to be family friendly due to its kids buffet and promotion of kids eat free with each paying adult, but we were told that the food and the entertainment were not up to the standards of other luaus. The booking agent suggested that we try out the Sheraton Luau, and that he could get Mark and David in for free. He said that the show was one of the best and that the food was much better than the Kaanapali Luau. Yet again, we were happy with the decision we made. The Sheraton Luau was a great experience and somewhat affordable. The hula dancers were talented and attractive, although the MC was corny and a little full of himself. The show’s highlight was a spectacular fire dancer who never missed a beat:

We arrived on the evening of July 8th, picked up our rental car and made our way to the condo, which was about 45 minutes from the airport. On the way, we stopped at McDonalds to get a quick bite. $48 later, we realized that we weren’t in Kansas anymore. Prices here were expected to be a bit higher, but we’ve never spent $48 at McDonalds just for the 5 of us. The next morning, we treated ourselves to breakfast at Cheeseburgers is Paradise, a milling little joint on the beach in Lahaina. $100 later, we realized that Kansas was on a different planet. We really needed to get our act together and hit the market. Eating out was going to be an expensive option we couldn’t afford! We stopped by the local Safeway market and picked up a few day’s worth of food, coming out to $280. The same amount of food in Pasadena would have cost us around $150. Damn, Hawaii is expensive!

July 9th was pretty much a day to relax and enjoy the surroundings. We didn’t plan any activities, so the kids lounged by the beach and hung out at the pool.

On July 10th, we decided to explore our part of the island. We hopped in the car and started driving on the Hanoapilani Highway towards the north. It was a beautiful, scenic drive that took us about 4.5 hours, including some stops to enjoy the views:


This location near Makuleia Bay was interesting not only because of the awesome terrain and view, but we also noticed hundreds of rock piles that looked like miniature monuments strewn about the area. We didn’t know the significance, but we made our own anyway.




Our last stop was a beach in Kahului Bay where the boys got their swim trunks on and hit the waves. Steven lasted 5 minutes before a sea shell broke through his swim shoes and cut his foot.

Aloha,

After 16 years of collecting United Airline Miles, we finally accumulated enough to take a family trip on a plane. This being the last summer before Steven goes to college, we felt that it was now or never. With a quarter-million miles, we were limited to any of the 50 United States. We left it up to the kids as to where we would go and they all agreed on Hawaii. Florida was too hot, Washington DC was too educational, New York was too theatrical (for Steven and Mark), and anything west of the Mississippi was too boring. Hawaii seemed to fit everyone’s needs and wants: relaxation, beach weather, activities, and best of all- a long airplane flight- the first for Mark and David.

We originally looked at going to Oahu so we could experience Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, and Waikiki Beach, but there were no available flights using my mileage to Oahu, so our second choice was Maui. Boy am I glad we ended up on Maui.

We departed from Ontario airport and stopped at San Fransisco International before going on to Maui. The first flight for Mark and David was on a CRJ200, 55 passenger plane. About as small as you get on a commercial airline. It didn’t really matter… they did just fine. Steven, however, seemed to feel the plane was too small as he was ducking his head the entire flight.



The flight from San Francisco to Maui was on a roomier 767, so Steven felt much more comfortable.

We decided that to do Hawaii the right way, we had to go beachfront. Hotels were WAY too expensive, especially considering we would need 2 rooms for the 5 of us. So, we opted for a condo. After a solid week of searching various web sites, we found what we were looking for- a 3-bedroom 2-bath condo on the water in Kaanapali on the west side of the island at the Papakea Resort. The condo unit, L-405, was perfect. Each of the kids had their own room- Mark in a full bedroom, David in a spacious and comfortable loft, and Steven on a pull-out sofabed in the livingroom. Christy and I had our own room with a King Bed overlooking the water. The lanai (porch) was large and spacious and allowed us to enjoy the beautiful sunsets every night:

To make it easier to read, I will break up our trip into several posts…

Click Here to see all of the pictures from our trip!

It has been 7 years since Christy and I have had a weekend alone together. Every opportunity we’ve had to go on vacation, we did it with the kids. With 3 boys, we were not comfortable pawning them off to family members for more than a day. But as they all reached their teenage years, we felt is was time for them to prove their maturity and handle things on their own while Mom and Dad took some time off. I decided to surprise Christy for Mother’s Day and her upcoming birthday and booked us a room on Pismo Beach at a wonderful beachside motel called Cottage Inn by the Sea.

We had a ocean-view room with a back door that opened into a beautiful garden perched on a bluff that overlooked the ocean. There were stairs nearby leading right to the beach with an amazing tide pool steps to the north and the Pismo Beach pier a short walk to the south.








It was a wonderful, relaxing, recharging weekend that was exactly what we both needed. The kids were able to take care of themselves and we came home to a clean house. Thanks to all the family members that helped this weekend go so smoothly. We are hoping to make this somewhat of a habit…

Here is a short slideshow of our trip:





Shamir Merino

As the Jewish New Year approaches, I am reminded about the profound experience I had while in Bolivia a couple of weeks back. While in Santa Cruz, staying with friends of my father, my mother and I took a brief walk, and across the street a building caught my eye with a familiar shape:

Intrigued, we tried to find a sign somewhere on the exterior of the building that would indicate that this was either a synagogue, or some other Jewish community center. Finding nothing, we took a peek through the crack in the door and sure enough we find our answer:

How ironic that we find a Jewish place of worship literally a stone’s throw away from where we were staying in a predominately Catholic, South American country. We rang the bell and spoke to the director of the synagogue, who explained to us that this congregation consists of approximately 70 families, many of whom are converted. They have Friday night services and Jewish activities for kids on Saturdays and meetings on Wednesdays. He invited us to return on Friday to join them for services, which we did.

Unfortunately, due to the Sabbath, I was not able to photograph the interior of the grounds or the sanctuary, which was, although small, modern and beautiful in its own right. Before the service, we met several of the congregants, who happened to be Israeli and spoke fluent Spanish and Hebrew. Surprisingly, NO ONE in Bolivia speaks any English, so I was completely reliant on my mother to translate for me. So here I am in a Synagogue in Bolivia, where the congregants are talking to us in both Spanish and Hebrew, and I am completely in the dark. I guess my 3 years of high school Spanish and 12 years of Hebrew did nothing to prepare me for this trip, as I felt like a complete idiot because I spoke only English.

Amazingly, during the actual service, I was able to feel a surprising sense of belonging as the familiar tune of the prayers and psalms filled the sanctuary. They weren’t exactly the same melodies, but they were very close. But a dose of reality hit me, however, when the responsive reading came into play… On the right-facing page of the prayer book is the prayer or psalm in Hebrew, while on the left-facing page, it is written in Spanish. Hearing and seeing it in Spanish was something very strange indeed- an experience I will never forget.

Something to think about for the New Year… All around the world, in places you would never expect, there are Jews who will be celebrating as a people, as a collective entity brought together by a common thread. Happy 5769th New Year!

Shamir Merino

Last month, I was blogging about Paradise Found. Now, I find myself in a different world for a different reason- far from what I would have called “Paradise” a month ago. After receiving an urgent call from Bolivia regarding my father’s grave condition resulting from being dead for 30 minutes prior to resuscitation, my mother and I quickly jumped on a plane and flew to parts unknown (to us) in a world far different from what I am used to. After 17 hours of trouble-free travel, we ar View Full Article »

For the second year in a row, we were fortunate enough to benefit from friends in high places. This friend just happens to own a condo on the beach in what is most possibly the best climate on earth, Pacific Beach, San Diego.

This one-bedroom condo is perfect for the five of us. While Christy and I enjoy a private bedroom, the kids have a sleeper sofa and air mattresses laid out in the living room, where they can enjoy the flat-screen TV, Playstation, and Tivo, not to mention the fantastic view of the nearby pier:

For the first few days, we decided to enjoy the weather and simply relax. The kids chose to spend their time in the pool and hot tub instead of heading to the beach just yet. We had the pool completely to ourselves, so Marco Polo and Chicken Fights were the main order of business:




We decided to forego the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, and the Wild Animal Park, but since Annalia had won 4 tickets to Lego Land from her efforts of collecting Box Tops for her school, we decided to join Cyndi, Mia, and Annalia for the day:

On our last day, we decided to enjoy Mother Nature’s playground, and soak in the sun at the beach. We chose to set up shop on the south side of the pier where there were fewer surfers, and less seaweed littering the water and sand. After some good ol’ fashion hole digging…


and football catching…


… we were ready to head home. All in all, it was a great vacation. Just what we all needed as the kids get ready for a new school year, Christy gets her school ready for another year, and I get ready to start my new job.

One thing I will certainly miss the most are the beautiful sunsets:

For a complete set of pictures from the vacation, click here!

Shamir Merino